Deep in Russia

On the opening evening of Deep in Russia the artist Oleg Kulik, whilst dressed as a priest, climbed into a large fish tank and read from the Bible to the fish inside.  According to the exhibition information, his ‘performative art practice emerged out of the bleak and brutal socio-cultural environment of post-Soviet Russia.” 

In Deep in Russia he examines what it means to be human through imagining not being human.  I guess as humans we are limited in how we can imagine not being human, especially  (as a Time Out review of the exhibition pointed out) as the very act of trying to imagine not being human makes us stand out from animals, who most likely are not spending their days trying to work out what it might be like to not be an animal.  Nevertheless the Ukrainian artist gives it his best shot, from acting like a dog in the street to interacting sexually with farm animals and pets.  Not an exhibition for the faint-of-heart.